MORE young people from abroad will be allowed to take "working holidays" in Britain, the immigration minister said yesterday.

MORE young people from abroad will be allowed to take "working holidays" in Britain, the immigration minister said yesterday.

Commonwealth men and women who come to the UK on the scheme will be able to hold professional jobs for the first time, instead of only unskilled or semi-skilled work.

They will be able to work full-time for most of their two-year stay, instead of one year, and the programme which applied to under-27s is to be extended to under-30s.

The changes were designed to encourage young people from all Commonwealth countries to participate, because figures showed people from largely white Commonwealth countries were dominating the scheme.

In 2001, for example, nearly all came from Australia (17,000), South Africa (9,570), New Zealand (6,350) and Canada (3,770).

It has long been a running joke in London that every bar worker is Antipodean.

Ministers said the measures will also help plug gaps in the UK's job market, such as catering, where there are staff shortages.

Allowing applicants to work full-time would "enable less- affluent applicants to prove more easily ... their ability to support themselves without recourse to public funds," said Home Office minister Beverley Hughes.

For the first time, participants will also be able to switch to work-permit status after 12 months in the UK if they meet necessary criteria, rather than being forced to fly home and reapply.

Ms Hughes added, "We are keen to encourage young people from all parts of the Commonwealth to take part, and enjoy the cultural exchange benefits, just as many young British people benefit from reciprocal schemes in other Commonwealth countries.

"The changes to the scheme will also help to provide more of the flexible labour that our economy and businesses need."

About 40,000 "working holidaymakers" currently take part each year. A Home Office spokeswoman said she was unable to put a figure on how many more would participate after the changes, apart from estimating an extra 4,000 as a result of the age limit being raised.

The minister said she had rejected the idea of a global scheme, rather than Commonwealth-only, as it could have required a quota to be imposed.